LAS VEGAS — The Chicago Cubs are expected to pursue all avenues to improve their pitching staff.
Whether through free agency or trades, the Cubs want tangible upgrades, especially as they essentially build their bullpen from scratch. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer indicated this week during the general managers meetings that the Cubs won’t be deterred from pursuing or signing a free agent who rejected a qualifying offer, which could cost them a draft pick.
Thirteen players were tendered qualifying offers, including Kyle Tucker and Shota Imanaga by the Cubs. For a team seeking pitchers, several notable starters will have a qualifying offer attached if they decline it: Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, Dylan Cease, Zac Gallen, Michael King and Brandon Woodruff. Players have until Tuesday to decide whether to take the $22.025 million qualifying offer.
The Cubs are in position to potentially recoup two draft picks should Tucker and Imanaga decline theirs and sign elsewhere.
“The draft picks are worth something to us, the dollars that you spend on a free agent are worth something to us, and so you’re just adding all of those things up because you’re trying to make a decision on players you acquire or don’t acquire,” Cubs GM Carter Hawkins said Wednesday. “The fact that you could get a draft pick back for a player, that doesn’t mean that you would be more likely to be willing to give one up.
“I would look at those all as individual transactions where it’s worth something to us to get a draft pick (and) we lose something when we lose a draft pick. And those are all factored into those individual decisions.”
Ex-Cub Kyle Hendricks retires
After 11 big-league seasons, including 10 with the Cubs, Kyle Hendricks is stepping away from the mound at 35.
Hendricks posted a 3.79 ERA, 110 ERA+ and 105 wins in his career, which included an electric 2016 season as the Cubs won their first World Series title in 108 years. He had a National League-best 2.13 ERA and 198 ERA+ in 31 games that year to finish third in NL Cy Young Award voting — and he delivered in the postseason with a 1.42 ERA in five starts, most notably allowing one earned run in 4 2/3 innings in Game 7 of the World Series in Cleveland.
Expecting to part ways with the Cubs after the 2024 season, Hendricks got the penultimate start and gave a vintage performance, tossing 7 1/3 shutout innings and earning an ovation as he walked off the mound for the last time at Wrigley Field. In his lone season with the Los Angeles Angels, Hendricks recorded a 4.76 ERA in 31 starts, which included facing the Cubs for the first time.
Angels GM Perry Minasian had only praise for Hendricks.
“What a great human being,” Minasian said Wednesday. “His ability to connect with everybody in the building, not just the players, not just the coaches, but the support staff, the way he treats people, the way he went about his business, how hard he works, how much he cares, the way he worked on his craft. He’s a unique, one-of-a-kind individual that I loved having.
“One impressive trait that might not stand out for people that don’t know him is his fearlessness. He was absolutely fearless on the mound and he believed in himself and in what he did, and it resonated throughout the whole locker room.”
As for Hendricks returning to the Cubs in an ambassador or other role, Hoyer plans to talk to him and see what he is looking to do in his post-playing career.
“But I have no doubt he’s going to be a part of a lot of things,” Hoyer said. “And now he has a summer off to do all the ’16 (10-year anniversary) celebration stuff.
“I know that’s why he did it,” Hoyer joked.
How Owen Caissie and Moisés Ballesteros could fit on 2026 roster
The Cubs return nearly every starting position player next year. Barring an unexpected return by Tucker, there’s a path to at-bats for two of the organization’s top prospects.
Outfielder Owen Caissie and catcher/designated hitter Moisés Ballesteros made their big-league debuts in 2025, and each showed the type of promise that could pay off for them and the Cubs next year.
A concussion cut Caissie’s season short, sidelining him for the final 2½ weeks and robbing the 23-year-old of everyday at-bats with Tucker on the injured list. In 12 games, Caissie went 5-for-27 (.192) with one double, one home run, four runs scored and a .222 on-base percentage.
“There’s not a higher league, and he both had some really successful moments and then he had some moments he probably is going to look back and learn from,” Hoyer said. “I just feel bad for him. He had a real opportunity to play with Kyle out, and he was going to play every day against righties. And the concussion obviously really hurt that and it was just really bad timing because all of us wanted to watch him play for 10, 12 days in a row and we just didn’t get that chance.”
Ballesteros turned 22 last week and has incredible upside. Catchers tend to take longer to develop, and Ballesteros has made only 305 starts behind the plate in his professional career. That lack of defensive experience, while his bat has an advanced, proven MLB-caliber approach, creates a challenge for the Cubs.
Ballesteros hit .298 with a .394 on-base percentage, .868 OPS, 151 OPS+, two doubles, two home runs and one triple in 66 big-league plate appearances spanning 20 games this year. He showed enough to be part of the Cubs’ two playoff rosters and logged three pinch-hit appearances.
Hoyer said Ballesteros won’t play winter ball but will be working to improve his craft and get in better shape.
“He’s a special bat and he can do a lot of great things offensively already, and we saw that,” Hoyer said. “But, yes, clearly, we do view him as a catcher, and you want him to continue to develop. It’s hard to develop catching in the big leagues (when) you’re trying to win.
“So we do have to balance those things out and think about it. But the good thing is he made it clear that he can hit in the major leagues, and that was really fun to see.”
